


Day 345

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [345]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [345]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 345

Greta watched as the last of the runners head off with their shoes and settled in for the longest part of her day. Sitting and doing not much of anything. Occasionally, someone would ruin a shoe and not have time or money to get it replaced right away, or a runner would wake up part way through the day and come over for their working shoes.

Greta loved this part of her day, she would sit around and work on her drawing. The meager lot that she earned from the shoe rentals was not enough to have a regular supply of parchment and ink but she had saved up and got herself a slate tablet and supply of chalk. It meant that she had to wipe away her drawings when she was down but she would have nowhere to put them anyway.

Today she had chosen, as a subject, a nug that had escaped from the merchant’s guild cooks and found its way down to Darktown. It was munching happily on some plants that were growing nearby. Greta was pretty sure it was deathroot but the nug refused to be shooed away from its meal. Nugs lived in the Deep Roads where everything was tainted so maybe they liked poisonous food.

It was always a surprise when anyone came by during midmorning, but she was positively floored to see Varric leading the Champion of Kirkwall to her stall. Varric would occasionally come by for local gossip but he had never been by with the Champion. Geta hadn’t seen him since the festival where he had complained about the likeness she had drawn of him.

“Good morning Greta,” Varric said sidelining up to her stall. It was sized for human and elven children but was also the perfect height for dwarves. “What are you working on today?”

“I...” Greta’s anxiety spiked. “This is just practice. Not my best work.” What would the Champion think of her silly drawing of a nug?

“Don’t worry,” Varric said. “We were just on our way to the clinic to visit a friend, I thought I would stop by to say hello. But if you have any pieces you want to show off...”

Greta couldn’t think of anything worth showing off but she also didn’t want to waste the Champion’s time. She meekly turned her slate over to the two men. They took a moment to look it over.

“This is was all done today?” The Champion asked. Greta nodded.

“Well?” Varric asked. The Champion nodded and Varric smiled at Greta.

“How would you feel about a change of scenery,” he asked. “We’re looking for an artist to come work at the orphanage to put designs on the pottery we’re producing. Fun things exactly like this.” He pointed to the nug. “You know things the nobles will think are quaint.” 

“But what about my stall?” she asked. “You can’t possibly house all the orphans in Kirkwall. Those left behind will still need the shoes.”

“I’ll buy it from you,” Varric said. “You’ve already proven that it’s a viable business and it will give me better access to information about the goings on in the city.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Greta said. 

“Take all the time you need,” Varric said. “It will be awhile before we get everything up and running anyway, but you could be a full time artist.”

Varric and the Champion left and Greta spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what to do. She had never imagined her art as something more than a trick she could do at the festivals, or the occasional face sketch for Varric and his spies. On the other hand, she would get to work with a lot of the children she had gotten to know over the years, and she could make sure they were taken care of properly.

By the time the runners came back to return their shoes she had made up her mind. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. She wondered how many of her friends would get a new home once the orphanage finally opened


End file.
